Add your ambisonically encoded (b-format) sounds and music to our non-stop playlist reach: digital.eca.ed.ac.uk/gap-in-air.

This is an invitation to send works in if you have something that you think will fit. We’re trying to show a wide range of approaches to composing with space and recording sound. We’re interested in fully formed pieces, interesting/special field recordings and even one-off sound events/moments.

The main conditions for inclusion are that you grant us permission to play the sound in the space and that (if a piece of music) the work is yours. We’re also looking for technical simplicity so would like the works to arrive in four-channel WXYZ bformat .wav. Everything will play at 44.1kHz so please convert the file before sending it in should you need to.

If you want to have your work considered for this playlist please send a dropbox file (or other) that contains a .zip of the b-format file (WXYZ), a photo/album cover if this is relevant/you have one, and a text file with the following information:

  • your name
  • title of the piece
  • duration
  • a short description of the piece (1 paragraph – for display in the gallery)
  • more extended notes if you wish these to be available online

The deadline for this is Friday 14th November, we’ll be glad to consider submissions after this date but given the time it will take to sort through everything and put the playlist together, this is our initial cut off date.  Preference for inclusion on the playlist will be shorter tracks as we want gallery visitors to get a sense of the range of work that’s out there and what’s possible with ambisonics, some longer pieces will also be included.

A technical note: we’ll be decoding the 4 channel files to a 12 (possibly 16) channel rig. The room is a Georgian gallery space, so this will colour the sound significantly. We’ll attempt to balance the pieces in the room to give the best effect for each work, but abandon any hope of there being a clear sweetspot. The sound will certainly envelop the listener and fill the room but a sense of a solid ‘image’ will be fleeting.